


3 Times Iruka and Naruto Ate Ramen Together and 1 Time Iruka Almost Ate Naruto Instead

by vulcanhighblood



Series: The Vampire Homeroom Teacher [2]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Vampire, Blood Drinking, Character Turned Into Vampire, Everyone Needs A Hug, Except Mizuki, Gen, Ichiraku Ramen (Naruto), Mild Blood, Ramen, Umino Iruka Needs a Hug, Umino Iruka is a Good Teacher, Umino Iruka-centric, Undead, Uzumaki Naruto Needs a Hug, Uzumaki Naruto and Ramen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-29
Updated: 2020-10-03
Packaged: 2021-03-07 20:54:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 16,745
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26714071
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vulcanhighblood/pseuds/vulcanhighblood
Summary: Iruka's been a vampire for a few years now, and he's mostly figured out how to survive teaching without exposing himself to sunlight, eating garlic, or coming into contact with holy water. What Iruka hasn't figured out is how to avoid going full vampire and draining someone by accident. Which is fine, obviously. It's not like he's going to take a fuuma shuriken to the spine or anything like that. He's just a teacher. What's the worst that could happen?
Relationships: Umino Iruka & Uzumaki Naruto
Series: The Vampire Homeroom Teacher [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1984759
Comments: 41
Kudos: 89





	1. Vegetables and Ramen

**Author's Note:**

> The Vampire concept for this story is heavily influenced by "The Utterly Uninteresting and Unadventurous Tales of Fred, the Vampire Accountant" by Drew Hayes. If you haven't read it, I highly recommend you do.

“Hey, Naruto!” Iruka called, spotting the small bundle of endless energy standing outside Ichiraku Ramen, gazing longingly at the counter just beyond the noren curtains, “Thanks for waiting.”

“I still don’t understand why so many people need to talk to you about your classes,” Naruto grumbled, sounding as though he held a personal grudge against parent-teacher conferences. “You’re the best teacher in the whole school, they should just walk in, say _thanks for teaching_ _our kids,_ and leave.”

If only it were that simple! Iruka laughed at the thought of Yamanaka Inoichi, or Hyuuga Hiashi, or even Nara Shikaku walking into his classroom, thanking Iruka, and walking out again. It was a nice idea, but unlikely to ever be realized. “That’s nice of you to say, but I don’t mind talking about classroom policies and student progress with concerned parties.” 

“Ugh,” Naruto said, making a face. “I never talk about school if I don’t have to.” He glanced up at Iruka, a guilty look flashing across his features. “I like  _ your _ class, though, Iruka-sensei.” 

A smile crept across Iruka’s face at that. Even though he really should have been chiding Naruto for his blatant dismissal of important education, he just couldn‘t bring himself to do it. “Well as long as you like  _ my _ class, I’ll pretend I didn’t hear the first part,” Iruka said, giving Naruto a sly wink. “So, what’s your order going to be tonight? Thinking about some gyoza on the side? Extra pork?  _ Vegetables?” _

Naruto shot a look of betrayal in Iruka’s direction. “Why would  _ anyone _ pay extra for vegetables? You should be paying  _ me _ to eat them!”

Iruka threw his head back and laughed at that. A thought occurred to him then, and he smirked at Naruto. “You’ve got a deal,” he said. “I’ll pay  _ you _ an extra five ryo if you eat the ramen with the topping of cabbage and carrots and bean sprouts. I'll throw in an extra  _ ten _ ryo if you eat the spinach topping, too.”

Naruto’s nose wrinkled as he considered Iruka’s offer. “Can I still get the marinated egg and extra pork?”

“Sure,” Iruka replied with a grin, “So long as you  _ also _ eat the veggies, you can have whatever other toppings you want.”

Naruto stuck out his hand. “That’ll be fifteen ryo, Iruka-sensei.” 

Chuckling, Iruka fished the coins from his change purse, plunking them into Naruto’s open palm. “Done,” he said. “A pleasure doing business with you, Naruto.” He gestured to the counter, drawing the noren curtains aside. “After you.”

Naruto scrambled onto the nearest stool with a grin. “Hi Teuchi!” he fairly bellowed, which was his typical volume. He drew a few irritated glances from the other patrons, and Iruka glared back until they returned their attention to their bowls. “I’ll have the Tonkotsu broth with thick noodles, cooked slightly soft, and I want extra pork, a marinated egg…” Naruto glanced at Iruka, who raised an eyebrow at him. “…and spinach and vegetables, please.”

Iruka slid into the stool beside Naruto. “Evening, Teuchi-san,” he greeted. “I’ll have my usual, please.”

Teuchi made a small face. “Sorry Iruka-sensei, I’m all out of the plain broth. All of the soups have garlic in them tonight.”

Iruka scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. “I see,” he said weakly. “Well, then I guess I’m in for an itchy night. I’ll use some allergy cream on the hives when I get home,” he winked at Naruto before turning back to Teuchi and adding, “your ramen is worth a night of suffering.”

Naruto cackled, pointing at Iruka. “Is your face going to have red dots all over it tomorrow? Like last time?” 

Iruka shrugged. “It depends on how fast the allergy cream works,” he lied. There was no allergy cream. But Naruto didn’t know that, and Iruka wasn’t in a hurry to tell him the truth.

Teuchi was giving Iruka one of those  _ looks  _ of his, like the ones he used to give Iruka as a kid when he heard about the stupid stunts Iruka pulled. Handing over the money to pay for his and Naruto’s ramen, Iruka shook his head, waving off Teuchi’s concern with a small smile of gratitude. Iruka knew what he could handle, and a little garlic might make him uncomfortable, but he was fairly certain a vampire would have to eat almost a kilogram of the stuff to even run the slightest risk of dying (or whatever people called it when someone shuffled off the  _ immortal _ coil).

It wasn’t exactly common knowledge that Iruka was a vampire, but it wasn’t a closely guarded secret, either. Anyone who paid attention could probably figure it out, though Iruka wasn’t exactly the sort of person who drew a lot of attention around the village, even after gaining his undead status. 

In fact, if anything, he’d become  _ less _ noticeable as a vampire than he’d been as a regular human chunin. But after that mission had gone horribly wrong and he’d found himself critically injured and on the verge of feeding on his own comrades to regenerate his strength, Iruka decided that remaining on active duty could prove to be more harmful to Konoha in the long term than choosing to step down. But he still wanted to give back to the village he dearly loved, so he’d asked the Hokage to become a teacher at the Academy. He still took the occasional mission here and there, usually taking solo operations so he didn’t run the risk of falling prey to his undead instincts and injuring a comrade. Otherwise, Iruka lived a comfortable, quiet life within the confines of the village.

He had a steady blood supply lined up courtesy of Konoha Hospital, which ate up a sizable portion of his monthly paycheck from the Academy. He picked up extra shifts at the Mission Desk to make ends meet, and since his undead body needed very little sleep (though his human mind appreciated the chance to recharge, so he would still sleep every two to three days), he was able to juggle his teaching responsibilities and the desk shifts without much trouble. Vampires weren’t all that common around Konoha for a number of reasons, but the most important reason was they often suffered from divided loyalties. According to what Iruka had read, vampires typically lived as members of independent clans, and being turned usually meant you should swear allegiance to the clan that turned you. Many clans demanded their members forswear all other allegiances, which meant the vampire could no longer assure a hidden village of their loyalty. Iruka had been turned by an enemy shinobi, a missing-nin who had himself been turned only a few months prior. The vampire had gone on to abandon his village for the sake of his clan, and had made himself an enemy of Konoha while in service of his clan. In turning Iruka, the vampire had hoped to either kill Iruka or awaken a voracious bloodthirst within him. As it turned out, Iruka had survived being turned (beating the odds and becoming undead instead of dead-dead), and had also been able to keep himself under control until he’d acquired his first bag of blood from Konoha Hospital. The enemy vampire hadn’t been quite so fortunate, having been both staked through the heart  _ and _ beheaded by his teammates. Because of this, Iruka held no allegiances to anyone outside Konoha, the ties of clan loyalty from one vampire to another having been severed as cleanly as his sire’s head had been cut from his shoulders.

Being a clanless vampire had disadvantages, of course, but Iruka didn’t mind the steep learning curve if it meant keeping his loyalty and allegiance undivided. His first real scare had been that fateful mission before he chose the life of a humble schoolteacher. Iruka hadn’t realized how much he relied on the regenerative property of human blood, and how very desperate - almost  _ feral - _ he could become when he needed to feed. Healing took a lot out of him, and his team members had smelled  _ so good _ . It had taken all his willpower just to remember that they were his comrades, not mere cattle to be slaughtered for sustenance. His saving grace had been the fact that their team’s leader, Kakashi, had apparently recognized how close to losing it Iruka truly was. He’d immediately taken action, draining blood from his own veins into a cup and passing it to Iruka. It hadn’t been enough to truly satisfy, but it had kept the edge off long enough to get Iruka back to Konoha without sinking his fangs into someone’s neck and accidentally draining them dry.

Iruka only needed one incident where he caught himself genuinely thinking “Just one quick sip,” while staring at the throbbing veins and bloody scrapes on his teammates’ bodies to decide that he wasn’t cut out for team missions anymore. He wasn’t strong enough to be sent on many solo missions, either, so he’d thought about how he could help the village without running the risk of putting himself in a tempting situation. Teaching seemed like the ideal solution - he was never so injured that the need for blood became terribly urgent, and the small flask that he kept hidden in his flak jacket held more than enough blood to boost his healing for any minor injuries he might sustain during class time. He could stand in the shade, and as long as he moved through the sunlight  _ quickly, _ he tended not to get more than what felt like a bad sunburn. He almost never burned bad enough to blister, and usually a bit of extra blood would clear up any discomfort within a matter of hours. He always kept his hair back in a ponytail, so he didn’t really  _ need _ a mirror, and garlic was more of an inconvenience than anything. Silver, however, posed something of a problem. It seemed to somehow disrupt whatever it was that kept his undead body animated. Being stabbed with a regular kunai or shuriken was a minor inconvenience at worst. His blood, now dark and sluggish, might drip out of a particularly deep wound, but it only took a few sips of blood to clear it up again.

Silver, on the other hand, was  _ horrible. _ It burned like sunlight on contact, his whole body reacting violently to the metal. His limbs would lock up if he was bound by it, and wounds caused by silver took an excruciatingly long time to heal, and required a  _ lot _ more blood to deal with. Consecrated materials like the purification water from shrines and temples were another problem - touching those hurt too, though not as badly as silver. Still, his likelihood of coming into contact with silver or holy materials was fairly low, especially if he stayed in the village and didn’t visit any of the nearby shrines or temples. The only time he really came into contact with consecrated water was the ritual washing that he performed before entering Konoha Cemetery to pay his respects to his parents. Still, it was a pain he was willing to bear, and he only went once a month. The burns typically faded within a day or two, so long as he had enough blood to keep his rate of healing in top form. 

Naruto finished his ramen in record time, even with the extra toppings of vegetables. Iruka savored his, not only because he rarely got to eat garlic anymore, but also because he didn’t actually derive any sustenance from food. Anything he ate now was purely for the experience, so he enjoyed taking his time with the food he ate. Amazing how a little thing like dying could give you such appreciation for the simple things in life. Like garlic. Iruka grimaced. His tongue felt fuzzy and his lips were already starting to itch. Carefully, he set his chopsticks down across the bowl, lifting it up to set it atop the counter, even though a good two-thirds of the broth still remained. “Thank you, Teuchi-san,” he said. “It was delicious.” Worth the numb lips, for sure.

Naruto was giving Iruka a concerned look. “Is your allergy getting worse, Iruka-sensei?” he asked.

It was less that, and more that Iruka had neglected to drink enough blood that morning. Garlic always hit harder when he was low on blood, and he couldn’t exactly whip out his flask  _ now. _ It would look suspicious. Generally, Iruka didn’t care whether people knew he was undead or not. After a childhood of outrageous pranks and an adulthood of dealing with annoying shinobi at the Mission Desk and small children at the Academy, Iruka was fairly desensitized to the judgement of other people. But he didn’t want his students to know, because he worried about how they might react. He wanted to be a familiar, comforting presence to them, not a bogeyman or a monster. Perhaps it was selfish of him to hide his true nature from them, but Iruka wanted some small part of his life to  _ not _ be defined by the creature he had become. And so he had a “garlic allergy”, he “sunburned easily”, he “wasn’t religious,” he “disliked jewelry”. His students found his “idiosyncrasies” amusing and Iruka let them laugh about it. He loved them, wanted to see them become the best versions of themselves, and he didn’t think he could foster that in children who would see him as a predator if they knew the truth. 

“My allergy is fine, Naruto,” Iruka assured him, “but it’s sweet of you to care.” 

“Of course I care,” Naruto said, making a face. “Stupid Iruka-sensei, thinking I don’t care.” 

Iruka chuckled, ruffling Naruto’s hair. “I’m impressed,” he said. “You ate all the vegetables.”

“Only because you wanted me to,” Naruto told Iruka seriously. He slid off his stool, hopping from one foot to the other, waiting for Iruka to take his leave. 

Iruka chuffed at that, amused, and more than a little touched. “How come you don’t listen to me when I tell you to eat less instant ramen, then?”

“Oh come on, Iruka-sensei!” Naruto complained, throwing his hands in the air, “I’m not going to listen to you when you start going on about eating healthy, that’s for  _ old people _ to worry about!”

Iruka mock-gasped, clutching at his chest. “Are you calling  _ me _ old?” he demanded. “I don’t look a day over eighteen!” 

From behind the counter, Teuchi-san suddenly found washing his dishes  _ very interesting, _ ducking his head so that neither of them could see the look on his face. Iruka felt a little bad about the joke - perhaps it was in poor taste? Being the only vampire around made it hard to know whether it was appropriate to make jokes about being undead (and by extension, eternally young). 

“Eighteen is still  _ really old, _ Iruka-sensei,” Naruto told him seriously. “You’re practically ancient.”

Iruka  _ did _ laugh at that. “Watch it, brat!” he said, “I don’t  _ have _ to treat you to ramen, you know. Maybe next time I’ll make you a  _ vegetarian stir fry _ and bring it to your apartment and make sure you _ eat all of it.” _

“Noooo!” Naruto wailed, a hint of  _ actual fear _ in his gaze. “You wouldn’t! You can’t even cook, can you?”

Sliding from his stool, Iruka thanked Teuchi for the meal, and then turned to Naruto, raising an eyebrow. “Don’t test me,” he said, fighting to hide his amusement, “and you’ll never have to find out.”

“I won’t!” Naruto declared.

Iruka believed him about as much as he believed any of his kids when they promised to behave - they really meant it in the moment, but they weren’t exactly great at following through. It was a good thing he loved the little cretins, because if he didn’t, teaching would probably be a miserable profession. “All right, kiddo, I just have one more question.” 

“Yeah? What?” Naruto demanded.   
  
“Did you finish your homework?” Iruka asked, watching for his reaction.

Naruto winced slightly, then glanced up at Iruka. “…yes…?”

“Right, so I can collect it tonight instead of tomorrow morning? Get a head start on my grading?” Iruka asked with a grin, turning to head out.

“Wait!” Naruto cried, then scuffed the ground with his feet. “It might need a little more work before it’s ready to hand in.”

“Right,” Iruka said with a knowing smile, laying a hand on Naruto’s shoulder and guiding him down the street in the direction of the small one-room apartment. “How about this - I come and hang out at your place for an hour or two, and if you have any questions about how to finish something, you can ask your questions then instead of in class. How’s that sound?”

Naruto made a face. “I’d rather play a game.”

“Oh really? Me too!” Iruka exclaimed. “How about this: If you finish your homework, we can play something once you’re done.”

Naruto grumbled a little bit under his breath about task masters and annoying teachers, but the bright smile on his face rather ruined the effect. “Fine,” he said. “I guess you can come over. But only for an hour! Or two.”

“Sounds great,” Iruka said. “Let’s go.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This concept of "Iruka as the World's Most Boring Vampire" simply would not leave me alone, and I had no idea for a title. Then I wrote 3 scenes involving ramen and was like - oh. Oh no. I know exactly what kind of fic this is. 
> 
> To elaborate on the top note - most of the rules and vampire lore that I'm using in this fic come courtesy of "The Utterly Uninteresting and Unadventurous Tales of Fred, the Vampire Accountant" (and the rest of the Fred series) by Drew Hayes. I highly recommend it if you like the idea of a vampire being a boring-ass normal person who somehow got dragged into weird supernatural situations. The concept seemed to fit Iruka well, as he's also a super boring type of character in the middle of this wildly unsusual ninja society. Once I had the idea, it just wouldn't let go, and here we are.
> 
> Also, somehow "Umino Iruka is A Good Teacher" isn't a common tag???? why not??? we have failed this great man by not acknowledging this fact enough, apparently. we as a fandom should do better.


	2. Fish and Ramen

It was a slow Saturday at the Mission Desk and Iruka was rearranging the scroll organizer for maximum efficiency when he heard two Jonin snickering about  _ that kid _ making a scene over in the market street, and how the little hoodlum was going to get his ass kicked if he wasn’t more respectful. 

Iruka shut his eyes briefly.  _ Really, Naruto? _ He thought wearily.  _ You can’t go one day without making trouble? _

He knew the answer to that question in a way few others did, but it didn't make him feel any less exasperated. He considered his options. He could send a clone, or go in person and leave a shadow clone here. After a moment of consideration, Iruka turned to Ayako, one of the newer desk workers. “I just remembered something that can’t wait,” he said. “I’ll leave my shadow clone here to answer any questions you have, but since it's slow I don’t think we’ll have any problems.” 

Ayako glanced at him in surprise. “Oh?” she said. “That’s not really like you.”

“Yeah,” Iruka chuckled weakly, scrubbing at the back of his head, “I suppose it isn’t, sorry. But I have to go.” He made a swift motion, creating his duplicate, which patted him on the shoulder. 

“Good luck,” Iruka’s clone said. “Try not to yell too loud.” 

“Don’t count on it,” Iruka muttered, breezing out of the Mission Desk room and making a beeline for the market street. 

Of  _ course _ it was the middle of the day, and of  _ course _ Iruka had left his sun umbrella back at the Mission Desk since it would have slowed him down. He kept to the shadows as much as he could, but efficiency trumped self-preservation to the point that Iruka was fairly certain he would need a  _ double _ portion of blood after this was over. He scowled, thinking of his dwindling savings and how much that blood would cost. 

Naruto was worth it. 

Taking a moment to chug down most of the blood in the flask he kept on him at all times, Iruka surveyed the scene. There was a small crowd of people muttering, and somewhere in the crowd came loud peals of laughter from Naruto. With a sigh, Iruka licked his lips and ran his tongue over his teeth, hoping that he’d gotten rid of the traces of blood. Not that he’d be able to see his reflection in a mirror to check, anyway. His sunburns were starting to fade and he slipped across the street under some wide eaves, avoiding any more sun contact as he began shoving his way into the crowd.

“Hey!” he shouted once he’d reached the center, pointing at Naruto, who was holding two small fish in one hand and a bundle of twine in the other, “What do you think you’re doing?” 

“Oh shit, it’s Iruka-sensei!” Naruto gasped, almost dropping the fish in surprise. “What are you doing here? I thought you had work!” 

Aha, so  _ that’s _ why he’d chosen this time. Iruka folded his arms over his chest and stared down at the kid. “I did. But apparently keeping  _ you _ out of trouble is a full-time job of its own,” he said. “Care to explain all this?” he glanced at the twine, the two fish, and then back to Naruto. 

“Aw, I was just going to make a smelly surprise,” Naruto protested, “But then the old guy got mad because I swiped his fish.”

Iruka shut his eyes briefly. “Naruto. You  _ stole _ the fish?” 

“Only because he refused to sell them to me!” Naruto protested.

“You do see how that’s  _ worse, _ right?” At this point, Iruka was fighting a losing battle to keep his volume down.

“No,” Naruto shot back stubbornly, “Because he should have just sold the fish to me.” 

“Fish are for  _ EATING,” _ Iruka yelled, throwing his hands in the air, “Not for making stinky surprises!”

“Smelly surprise,” Naruto corrected him. 

Some days, Iruka really felt like strangling this kid. “Fish. Are. For. Eating.” He held out a hand. “Give them here.” 

With a bitter scowl, Naruto handed the fish over. “I don’t see what the problem is,” he grumbled. 

“Sir?” Iruka turned to the older man Naruto had indicated. “How much for the fish?”

“Two hundred fifty ryo,” the man replied with a sneer, “Each.”

Holy shit, so much for Iruka’s extra blood budget. “Right,” Iruka dug out his coin purse with one hand, still holding the two small, very much not worth 250-ryo, fish. “I think I have enough for that…” 

Naruto was staring wide-eyed at Iruka, as was the fishmonger. 

“I don’t want  _ your _ money, Iruka-sensei,” the fishmonger protested. 

“Well you’re not getting Naruto’s money for these fish,” Iruka snapped, “Not at that ridiculous price.” 

“Iruka-sensei, the sign at his shop said they were only twenty-five ryo each,” Naruto said in a quiet voice, glancing between the old man and Iruka. 

“Right,” the fishmonger said awkwardly, “twenty-five ryo apiece, that's what I meant to say.”

Iruka dug fifty ryo out of his coin purse. ”Will this be enough?”

The fishmonger took the money, shooting a bitter look in Naruto’s direction and saying, “Pardon me for saying so, but you’re not doing that thing any favors by paying for its mistakes, Iruka-sensei.” 

_ “He,” _ Iruka said sharply, “Is most  _ definitely _ not off the hook just yet.” He shot a look at Naruto, who cringed. “We apologize for the inconvenience.  _ Don’t we, _ Naruto?”

Naruto made a face. “I’m  _ not-” _

Iruka sent an even sharper look in his direction. “Naruto.” 

The kid sighed, folding his arms and glaring at the fishmonger. “Sorry you’re so bad at selling fish that you can’t recognize a paying customer when they’re standing in front of you.”

“Naruto!” Iruka snapped, “Try again.” 

Sighing dramatically, Naruto said, “Sorry for taking your stupid overpriced fish that you wouldn’t sell to me.” 

Iruka resisted the urge to facepalm. “…Naruto…” 

“Look, I’m  _ not _ sorry, okay?!” Naruto shouted, fixing his bright blue eyes on Iruka, his expression screwing up in frustration. “I don’t know what you want from me! He’s a jerk, everyone hates me, and you want  _ me _ to apologise to  _ them?  _ I won’t! It’s stupid! You’re stupid, Iruka-sensei!” And he took off running.

Iruka glanced up to the clear blue sky overhead, then down the wide, sunny street where Naruto had fled, and sighed. This was going to hurt.

* * *

It took nearly an hour to find Naruto, and Iruka had drained his flask dry. He was a bit… crispy, but nothing too terrible, so he didn’t bother stopping by his apartment for more blood. Instead, he dropped from the overhead branches, flopping on the ground next to Naruto with a sigh. “I was going to show you how to cook these,” he said, holding up two limp fish, “but they’ve been in the hot sun for an hour now. Adding my abysmal cooking skills to the equation, I’m not sure eating them would be a good idea.” 

Naruto huffed, turning so that his back was facing Iruka. “I don’t want them.”

Sighing, Iruka set the fish aside. “Look, Naruto…”

“I know it was wrong, okay? Is that what you want to hear?” Naruto snapped, shoulders tense. He still wouldn’t look at Iruka. “I know I messed up. I  _ always  _ mess up,” he added in a small voice. 

Iruka didn’t know what to say to that. He couldn’t deny it, Naruto was a hellion and a menace, and he needed someone with a lot more time than Iruka to take him under their wing. But there was no one, no one but Iruka, and Iruka wasn’t  _ good _ at this, apparently. “Everyone makes mistakes,” he said awkwardly. “But Naruto, I know you’re better than this. I’m not angry with you, but I am disappointed.”

Naruto’s shoulders seemed to shrink into himself. “I know,” he said hoarsely. “I’m always a disappointment.”

He was doing this wrong, Iruka knew it. He couldn’t figure out what to say, didn’t know how to make this better. “You’re not a disappointment,” he said, “But you have so much potential, Naruto. You’re amazing, and it hurts to see you squander that potential.”

Slowly, Naruto turned to look at Iruka, scrubbing at his face. Iruka pretended not to see the tear-tracks lining his cheeks. “You really think so?”

“I really do,” Iruka promised. “I want you to be your best self, Naruto. Were you being your best self today?”

Miserably, Naruto shook his head. “I was just…” he gestured uselessly, but Iruka could fill in the blank all too easily.  _ Sad. Lonely. Frustrated. Angry. Useless. Afraid. Unwanted. _

Scooting a bit closer, Iruka wound one arm around Naruto’s shoulders. “Well, there’s always tomorrow. Have you had lunch?”

Naruto glanced up at Iruka with a wide grin. “Ramen?”

Iruka grinned back at him. “Ramen.” He  _ really _ hoped Teuchi-san had a stock of garlic-free broth this time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (there was garlic-free broth!)
> 
> This one's a bit shorter, but it's a good place to end, I think. Thanks for reading! The next two chapters will be a bit longer.


	3. Pranks and Ramen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's the day before the graduation exam, and Naruto still isn't taking things seriously.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is basically a rewrite of Chapter 1/Episode 1. Hopefully there's enough new insight to keep it interesting.

Iruka had only turned his back for a _minute,_ tops. He’d been writing some general outlines for his study guide, since they were nearing graduation. When he turned back around to talk about which techniques they’d be reviewing for their final exams, Naruto was _gone._ Again. It had been getting harder and harder for him over the last few weeks. He’d already failed this exam twice before, and Iruka knew the anxiety and frustration had been getting to him. He wanted to shake him, to remind him that running away from _test preparation_ was not going to help him do _better_ on a test. Most of the kids didn’t even _need_ this review, and of course the kid he’d been thinking of the most when he put this lesson together wasn’t even here to learn from it!

He sighed, and created a shadow clone to watch the class for him. “Here’s the study guide,” he said, handing his clone the pile of papers. “Just answer any questions they have. I’ll be back for the practicals.” Then he was off, stepping outside to figure out where exactly the little blond spitfire had run off to this time. It didn’t take him long to realize, and when he did, he felt his heart shudder painfully in his chest. Hokage Monument. Naruto was defacing the Hokage Monument. Oh, the Sandaime was going to have Iruka’s _hide_ for this. Cursing under his breath, Iruka took off in the direction of the monument. 

By the time he arrived, a sizeable crowd of grumbling shinobi had already clustered at the base of the mountain, and the Hokage appeared to have only just arrived as well. Dangling _precariously_ from some ropes, carrying a bucket of paint, Naruto was swinging before the face of the rock, making faces at the crowd below.

Iruka ran up beside the Sandaime Hokage, hunching so that he could hide within the shadow cast by the wizened shinobi. “Lord Hokage,” he said, glancing up at Naruto, “I can’t apologize enough…”

“Oh, Iruka,” the Sandaime said mildly, eyes sliding over to look him up and down, “Is that you?” 

It was the mildness that really got to Iruka, like the Sandaime didn’t know that Iruka was responsible for the little kid who had just - Iruka felt his chest constrict - defaced the image of his own deceased father. Ignoring the comment, Iruka turned to face the mountain and sucked in a deep breath. “OI, WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU’RE DOING?” Iruka bellowed, making sure Naruto could hear him clearly. “YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO BE IN CLASS! GET DOWN HERE! NOW!”

“Oh shit!” Naruto yelped, voice faint over the long distance. Squirming in his ropes, he added, “I didn’t think you’d realize I was gone!”

 _How could I not, when the lesson plan was specifically designed to help you graduate this time?!_ Iruka thought, feeling a minor urge to strangle Naruto. Instead, he launched himself across the open space (after bracing himself for the coming sunburn), grabbed the rope Naruto was dangling from, and yanked it up to the top of the mountain, wrapping it deftly around the wayward kid before tucking him under his arm and charging back to the classroom, hopefully before he started to _really_ burn. He didn’t even have time to drink any blood, since he returned to the classroom right as the kids were starting to get antsy.

He dispelled his clone, deposited Naruto on the floor, and glared at him for a long moment, arms folded over his chest. His skin felt brittle and dry, like it was stretched over him like a drying pelt over a wooden frame. He _really_ wanted some blood to make it go away, but he had bigger things to deal with at the moment. “Naruto.” He said, his frustration starting to bubble over, “Tomorrow, all of your classmates will pass the final and graduate from the Academy. The last _two_ times this came around, you flunked it. I have been _trying_ to teach you, and you chose _now_ for your stupid stunt? _Now?!”_

Naruto, still wrapped up in his own rope, pointedly refused to meet Iruka’s gaze. “Sure looks that way,” he grumbled. 

Rather than take his frustration out on Naruto, Iruka turned to the class as a whole. “All right, let’s start our practical review,” he snarled. “Everyone stand up and make a line at the front of the class, we’re practicing the art of transformation.”

There were a few mutters about how Iruka was being _mean,_ but a few sharp looks later and there was nary a peep to be heard from his students. He grabbed a clipboard from his desk, then glanced at Naruto, who was still pouting on the floor. “You can get out of those ropes, now,” he said.

Naruto immediately began wiggling his way out of them, and hopped to his feet a moment later.

“All right,” Iruka said, “now go get in line.”

Scowling over his shoulder at Iruka, Naruto shuffled his way into line with the rest of the students. 

“For this transformation,” Iruka addressed the line of students, “You must conjure a form that looks like me.” He motioned the first student forward. “Sakura?”

“Oh, me?” Sakura stepped up, took a deep breath, and performed the transformation. 

It was technically precise and the Iruka that stared back at him was, as far as Iruka could tell, identical. Not that he’d seen himself in a mirror for the last four years, but… “Excellent,” he said, “Next.”

“Were you watching, Sasuke?” Sakura asked, sparing a glance back at the quiet boy.

Iruka resisted the urge to laugh, but only because he didn’t want to embarrass her just because she was infatuated. Puppy love was part of growing up, and it was kind of cute, so long as it didn’t interfere with learning. “Sasuke,” Iruka gestured for him to come forward. Another textbook transformation later, and it was Naruto’s turn. 

He stomped into the middle of the room, still looking sullen, before his face suddenly brightened into a grin. Iruka had just long enough to feel an inkling of _something_ about to go horribly wrong when Naruto transformed… into someone who was most decidedly _not_ Iruka. _Who the hell let this kid get ahold of porn?_ Iruka thought, stumbling back as he glanced around frantically for a blanket or something to cover Naruto’s transformation. _Probably the same people who let him get a bucket of paint this morning,_ he realized. Before he had the chance to fully react, Naruto dropped the transformation with a loud laugh.

“Hahaha!” He pointed at Iruka, “You should have seen your face! Do you like it? I call it the Art of _Sexy_ Transformation!”

“What is _wrong_ with you?!” Iruka shouted, distantly aware that this was not the best way to react but far too frustrated to care. “Why are you wasting all your time and talent on _stupid_ things like this? If you would put _half_ as much time and effort into your homework as you did into _idiotic_ stunts like this, you’d be passing this class!”

“It’s not idiotic!” Naruto screamed back, “You just don’t appreciate what I can do, stupid Iruka-sensei!” 

“I don’t appreciate _stupid tricks,”_ Iruka roared back, “because I want you to actually succeed in life instead of always falling back on playing the fool! Go back to your seat and sit down, we’ll be having words after class.”

Naruto looked ready to say something else, and Iruka was _not_ in the mood to hear it. 

_“I SAID_ **_SIT. DOWN.”_ **

Naruto sat. The rest of the class proceeded without another word spoken by a single student. It turned out Iruka didn’t have to be a blood drinker to scare his students spitless. He just needed to lose his damn temper. 

His skin still felt stretched tight over his body like it didn’t quite fit, and he still had no opportunity to drink blood to soothe the discomfort. Now, though, with Naruto’s big blue eyes resting on him, the remainder of his students shuffling silently from the room, he felt like maybe he deserved to suffer a bit longer. 

* * *

The two of them marched silently back to the Hokage Monument. Iruka found that someone (probably the Sandaime) had provided an actual scaffold to use, rather than dangling Naruto from a rope to clean the mountain. Iruka produced a bucket of soapy water and a washcloth, pointing to the mountain. “Clean it up, Naruto.”

Naruto scowled back at Iruka, but clambered onto the scaffold. As soon as he began to work, Iruka found a bit of shadow and tucked himself into it, finally pulling out his flask and drinking deeply, feeling the prickly pain of the burn recede as he did so. He sat and watched Naruto work, feeling like he’d failed him, somehow. He’d put so much work into today’s class, and in a fit of temper, he’d ruined it for everyone. Tomorrow was their final exam, and instead of sending his students off with an encouraging word and a smile, he’d blown up in their faces and sent them scurrying away. Why had he ever thought teaching was a good fit for him?

Naruto seemed, if possible, even more miserable than Iruka, scrubbing at the mountain with increasing ferocity before finally he threw the rag back into his bucket with a foul curse that Iruka certainly _hoped_ he hadn’t taught the boy. 

“We’re not leaving here until it’s clean,” Iruka called from his perch. “The longer you take, the longer until you go home.”

“So?” Naruto spat, grabbing his rag and attacking the face of the mountain once more, sparing a quick glance in Iruka’s direction. “It’s not like I have anyone at home _waiting_ for me.” He put his head down once more, scrubbing furiously.

Iruka’s heart clenched. He knew that. He didn’t have anyone at home waiting for him, either. It’s why he was sitting here, watching Naruto wash the monument instead of going home at a sane hour like any normal teacher would have. But Naruto was a kid, he didn’t have anyone in his life trying to teach him to be more than what people saw him as. The boy would become a man before long, and Iruka just wanted him to be a good one. When that day came, he hoped Naruto would understand why Iruka was always so hard on him.

“Naruto,” Iruka said softly.

“Now what?” Naruto demanded, looking up with a dark scowl on his face. 

“Well, once you’re through here…” Iruka scratched at his cheek, avoiding the boy’s gaze as he spoke, “I’ll… We could…” he fumbled, and finally managed to say, “I was thinking about having ramen.”

“AW YEAH!” Naruto practically exploded, a bright smile blooming across his face, “Just you watch, Iruka-sensei, I’ll have this whole mountain sparkling in no time!”

“I’ll settle for paint removal,” Iruka called after him, half afraid Naruto would cover the monument in glitter if he didn’t specify.

Naruto didn’t reply, already back to furiously scrubbing at the paint, this time with a wide grin on his face and a tangible excitement in the motion. Even so, judging from the amount of paint left to clean… Iruka settled back into the shadow and sighed. It was going to be a late dinner, for sure. 

* * *

Once they were settled in with bowls of ramen (Teuchi-san had garlic-free soup this time, so Iruka could enjoy it and not worry about sporting itchy hives the next day), Iruka finally asked Naruto the question that had been bothering him all day. “Naruto,” he said, glancing at the kid, who seemed to be trying to fit the entire contents of the bowl into his mouth at once, “Tell me something. Why did you choose _that_ place to deface? Don’t you know what kind of person becomes a Hokage?” 

“Of course I do,” Naruto protested around a mouthful of noodles. “In order to become Hokage, you have to be the strongest shinobi in the village.” He lifted his bowl, draining the broth before setting it down and adding. “Like the Yondaime Hokage, who saved the village by defeating the demon fox, right?”

Iruka nodded, taking a bite of his own ramen. “Right. So then _why_ that place?”

“I was just scoping out the view!” Naruto replied with a cheeky grin. “You know my face is gonna be up there one day, too!” He paused for dramatic effect before adding. “In fact, I’m gonna be better than _all_ of them!” His voice rose as he continued. “And then! When I’ve surpassed them all and people call _me_ Lord Hokage, the people of this village will _have_ to acknowledge me!”

Iruka swallowed hard. Oh. So that was why…? 

“By the way, sensei, can I ask a favor?” Naruto asked, turning to Iruka with a pleading look, clasping his hands together respectfully.

Instantly suspicious, Iruka raised an eyebrow. “What do you want, another bowl?”

“Not really,” Naruto said, “I actually wanted that leaf headband you’ve got. Can I wear it?”

Iruka reached up to tap his hitai-ate thoughtfully. “This? Sorry Naruto, no can do.” He smiled, “It’s a badge of adulthood. You’ll get your own when you graduate.”

“Aw, come on!” Naruto complained loudly. “That’s no fair!”

Iruka just laughed. “So that’s why you took your goggles off when we came in, huh? Cheeky.”

“I changed my mind,” Naruto declared loudly, “I _do_ want another bowl of ramen!”

Iruka laughed at his antics, flagging down Teuchi-san to order a second serving for the growing boy. “All right, Naruto. _That_ I can do.”


	4. Blood and Ramen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Naruto fails to graduate. Things get worse after that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CW: BLOOD. There is a _lot_ of vampire-related and injury-related blood in the second half of this chapter (drinking blood, coughing up blood, bloody wounds...). I'd say it probably falls within canon-typical violence, but figured I'd drop the warning here, just in case a significant focus on blood is an issue for any readers.
> 
> Also, this too is adapted from Chapter 1 of the manga, with a notable vampiric alteration. Lots of recognizable dialogue and scenes ahoy.

The next morning, Iruka laid out the graduation exams with trepidation. He was still worried that after his horrible temper yesterday, the students might be too nervous and do poorly on the test. It would reflect badly on him as a teacher, but then, he felt like maybe their results  _ should _ reflect badly on him, because he’d screwed up. It turned out that his students were a lot more resilient than he thought, though, because as they came in they were all laughing and talking as though nothing had happened. Iruka was glad they didn’t seem to be affected by his own misconduct, especially since it was such an important day. He was going to be working with Mizuki for practical exams, and he looked forward to chatting with him in between students. He hadn’t seen Mizuki in a while, aside from the occasional meeting in the teacher’s lounge. Iruka wished he had more time for his friends, but with his punishing schedule he’d built for himself to be able to afford undead necessities, he just hadn’t found time to really visit with him. 

The first two periods of the day were dedicated to the written exam, and the rest of the day involved a series of practical exams. Each practical had two teachers at the site who would both score the student and then take the average of the score in order to determine whether or not the student would pass. Iruka and Mizuki had been given the very last step in the test, which tested a student’s practical ninjutsu. Iruka hoped Naruto had been practicing more than just his sexy ninjutsu, but a part of him worried that he hadn’t. Especially since he’d been out late cleaning Hokage Mountain. But Iruka didn’t really regret that decision, since it was important to learn to clean up the mistakes you made and do better. Besides, one night of ninjutsu training wasn’t likely to be the deciding factor in whether Naruto passed or failed.

Iruka watched his students as they took the written exam, collecting their test papers at the end of the second period and tucking each one onto a clipboard that would then be passed from group to group as they completed their practical exams. 

“All right everyone, Group A, your practical exams will start in Room 102. Group B, your practical starts at the outdoor taijutsu course. Group C, your practical exam starts…” Iruka checked the rotation schedule his class would be taking. “At the weapons range. Do your best.”

“We will!” Naruto assured Iruka with a sunny smile.

That was something, anyway. Iruka had been half-certain Naruto would skip out on the test entirely after yesterday’s fiasco, but he seemed like he was really going to put his best foot forward for this test. He hoped so, because he really didn’t want to fail him out again. It made Iruka feel like he’d failed as a teacher every time one of his students failed, and Naruto even more than most because he’d invested so much time into trying to help him succeed. He really wanted Naruto to do well this time.

Iruka waved off his students as they headed out to their various destinations, and then hurried down the hallway to his own room, which would be taking students one-by-one. Mizuki was already there when he arrived, and he dropped into his seat with a sigh. “Made it.”

“Barely,” Mizuki chided, tossing Iruka an amused look. “What took you so long?”

“Oh, you know, some of these kids want to keep checking and double-checking their tests right up until the last minute,” Iruka said, “and then suddenly someone lost their pencil, and then no one’s paying attention because they’re too busy going on the great pencil hunt of the century. Anyway, I got them off to their starting points, at least. If they don’t arrive, it’s not for my lack of trying.”

Mizuki made a sympathetic noise. “At least  _ you _ made it on time.”

“Ah, speaking of which, shall I go collect the first student?” Iruka asked.

“Go for it,” Mizuki agreed. 

Iruka hopped up and headed into the hall, scooting open the door to his classroom, currently occupied by Mizuki-sensei’s 11-and-12-year-olds class. “Tamura Yukio,” he called, glancing down at the list of names before him. “Do you have your clipboard and test paper?”

A young man with dark hair swept back into spikes nodded enthusiastically. 

“All right, then come to room 108 with me, please,” Iruka said, waiting in the corridor for Yukio to make it out of the classroom before turning and walking down the hall. “Are you ready to graduate, Yukio?” he asked.

“I think so,” Yukio said thoughtfully. “I hope it’ll be fun.”

“I hope so too,” Iruka replied with a smile. 

After that there was a blur of students coming in, demonstrating their shadow clone technique, and Iruka and Mizuki would mark a score, compare notes, and give the evaluation. It went smoothly, both Iruka and Mizuki’s classes had done well overall. Iruka was starting to feel hopeful as Groups C and B from his class all passed. Now they were on to Group A - the last session of practical tests. This meant that after their decision, they would tally the scores on the clipboard and decide whether the student graduated or not. It was always the shift Iruka hated the most, because he hated to be the one telling a student that they’d need to stay in the Academy another six months. This test was even worse than usual, because Naruto was in Group A, which meant Iruka would be the one to tell Naruto whether he’d graduated, or if he was going to be staying in his class for another six months.

“What’s wrong?” Mizuki asked, leaning forward to catch Iruka’s eye.

“Oh, I just don’t like that I’m going to be the one telling my students whether they’ve graduated or not,” Iruka explained. “I hate being the bearer of bad news.”

“I’m sure your students will all do fine,” Mizuki assured him, patting his shoulder. “You’re a good teacher.” 

Iruka wasn’t so sure.

* * *

As it turned out, things went surprisingly well for Iruka. His students had no problem producing their shadow duplicates, and Iruka finally felt able to relax now that he could see his students weren’t struggling with the content of the test. Maybe he wasn’t a terrible teacher, after all. But Naruto… he was worried about Naruto. When he’d announced to the classroom that the final technique would be producing a doppelganger, Naruto’s face had gone pale. Iruka didn’t like to think about what that meant, but now it was Naruto’s turn and he had to face it head-on.

Naruto walked into the classroom, facing Mizuki and Iruka. Before them, on the desk, were neat rows of hitai-ate headbands. Iruka smiled encouragingly, but Naruto didn’t seem to notice, a nervous look on his face. He took a deep breath, puffing out his chest and squaring his shoulders before declaring, “Behold! A perfect double!” and performing the technique.

Iruka felt his heart sink as he spotted not three, but one sickly-looking duplicate lying on the ground beside Naruto. Did he have some sort of moral obligation to turn everything into a joke? This was his  _ graduation exam, _ why wasn’t he taking it seriously? “You fail,” he bit out, furious that Naruto would choose  _ now _ of all times to goof off. Iruka didn’t  _ want _ to fail him, but he gave him no choice, not with a showing like  _ that! _ As he lifted his eyes from the pathetic showing to meet Naruto’s gaze, his stomach twisted as he realized that this  _ wasn’t a joke. _ Naruto was alternating between staring at the duplicate and glancing between Mizuki and Iruka like maybe they would be willing to pass him despite the horrible attempt. It hadn’t been a joke, Iruka realized, staring back at his student in horror. Naruto really couldn’t do it.

Somehow, that hurt worse than if it had just been a prank. 

With trembling fingers, Iruka ran through the same rubric he’d used for each student so far, wincing as every box he ticked on the rubric dragged Naruto’s score down lower and lower. Beside him, Mizuki watched Iruka grade his student, a sympathetic look on his face. 

Iruka tallied the points, adding them to Naruto’s total score and shutting his eyes in misery. 59. He’d scored 59 points. A failing grade. Again.

Noting the score, Mizuki spoke up. “Iruka-sensei,” he said, “You know, this is his third time… and he did manage to conjure up  _ some _ form of himself, even if it  _ was _ a little flawed… What if we just gave him one or two extra points…?” 

Iruka wanted to, he really did. But if Naruto wasn’t ready, then he wasn’t ready. Passing him early would do him no favors, and was more likely to get him killed. Most people in the village, Mizuki included, probably wouldn’t see that as a bad thing. Iruka didn’t want to see Naruto hurt, though. He wanted him to be strong, to become a great shinobi. Sometimes, that meant making hard choices. 

“No, Mizuki-sensei,” Iruka said dully, hating that he had to be the bad guy. He and Mizuki should have put up a unified front, but now it was  _ definitely _ him that was failing Naruto, and the boy knew it. He hated this. “Every student is supposed to generate three duplicates.” Iruka kept his eyes glued to the desk as he continued, “Naruto only produced one, and he did so badly. Respectfully, his performance didn’t merit a passing grade.” He lifted his eyes, meeting Naruto’s gaze, adding a quiet, “I’m sorry, Naruto.”

“No you’re not,” Naruto spat, balling his hands into fists and glaring furiously at both of them. “If you were  _ really _ sorry then you would have let him pass me.”

Iruka leaned forward, trying to explain. “It’s not that simple, Naruto, I-”

“Thanks for teaching me  _ so much this year,  _ **_sensei,”_ ** Naruto snarled, marching for the door. “Guess I’ll see you again next semester.” With that, he slammed the door.

Iruka flinched at the harsh sound. Beside him, Mizuki sucked air in through his teeth in a sharp hiss. “Well. That could have gone better.”

Sighing, Iruka stood. “I’ll go get the next student,” he said miserably. 

“It’s not your fault he failed, Iruka,” Mizuki said as Iruka crossed the room. “He’s just no good. I don’t know why you bother.”

Iruka balled his hands into fists, thinking of all the lonely nights he spent crying for his parents, the times he wished that he could get help with homework but had no one to ask, the years he spent eating nothing but instant noodles because he didn’t know how to cook. Of course Mizuki didn’t know why he bothered. But that wasn’t the point. He didn’t do it for the sake of other people. He did it for Naruto. He hoped one day Naruto would understand that, even if no one else ever did.

“I  _ bother _ because it’s the right thing to do,” Iruka said wearily, sliding the door open and moving into the hallway. “At least, I hope it was the right thing to do,” he added, mostly to himself.

* * *

Later that day, the Hokage pulled Iruka aside for a difficult conversation. Iruka still felt guilty, seeing Naruto sitting by himself on the tree swing, miserably watching all the other new Genin being congratulated by their parents. Then the Hokage came to stand beside Iruka, murmuring softly that he wished to speak with him privately. Which was  _ terrifying _ considering that Iruka had no idea what the Hokage might want to talk about, unless maybe failing Naruto  _ had _ been the wrong choice after all? But he’d done it by the book, and he didn’t want Naruto hurt, and he didn’t think the Hokage wanted to see Naruto graduate before he was ready, so… Panicked, Iruka agreed. When he turned back around, Naruto was already gone. He didn’t know what to do about it, but he had a feeling Naruto probably wouldn’t want to see him just yet. If it were Iruka, he didn’t know  _ what _ he’d want to do. He himself had only failed to graduate once, three times felt like kicking someone when they were down. And of course he’d been the one doing the kicking, which made him feel even worse.

Once most of the Genin and their parents had taken their leave, the Hokage pulled Iruka aside to join him in the principal’s office, which he’d apparently decided to take over. No one was going to refuse to loan their office to the senior-most shinobi in the village, but Iruka still felt a little weird about it. It felt oddly like being called into the office as a student, and he didn’t like the feeling very much.

“Iruka,” the Sandaime said, offering him a seat and pouring him a cup of tea. 

“Yes, Lord Hokage?” Iruka had replied nervously, gingerly sinking into the chair opposite the desk. 

“I do understand how you feel about the boy,” the Hokage said gently, handing the tea to Iruka. “I know it was hard for you, at first. But you’ve come so far since then.” 

Iruka stared down into the cup of steaming tea, unwilling to meet his mentor’s gaze. “I can’t help feeling like I’ve failed him,” he said miserably. “Like I should have done something more.”

“You’ve done everything you could,” the Hokage assured him. “I know you see something of yourself in him, growing up without his parents’ love…”

“I just keep thinking that whatever I’ve done wasn’t enough,” he said. “He didn’t even want to stay for the exam review, and he  _ should _ have been able to pass. I think maybe… maybe I’m the problem,” Iruka confessed, finally looking up from the tea and meeting the Hokage’s gaze. “Maybe he should be in a different class.”

“Iruka,” the Hokage chided. “You know what his experience was in other classes.”

“Yes, but he was still  _ learning _ in those classes, wasn’t he?” Iruka protested. “He doesn’t seem to listen to me! And he certainly won’t listen to me  _ now.” _

“Iruka, you  _ know _ that’s not true,” the Hokage chided. “He acts out because he  _ trusts _ you, not because he doesn’t respect you.”

Ducking his head, Iruka sighed into his cup of tea. “I suppose that’s something.”

“You haven’t failed him, Iruka,” the Hokage assured him. “You’re trying to do what’s right for him.”

“I just don’t know if I’m trying hard enough,” Iruka murmured. 

“You are, Iruka,” the Hokage assured him. “Give him time.”

“I know,” Iruka said, “I’m just not sure he’s willing to give  _ me _ more time.”

The Hokage gave Iruka an exasperated look. “He will, Iruka. Just keep being yourself.”

“Yes, Lord Hokage,” Iruka agreed, though his heart wasn’t in it. The two of them finished their tea in silence before Iruka gingerly rose to his feet. “Thank you for the tea.”

“I mean it, Iruka,” the Hokage said, his dark eyes fixed on Iruka in a serious expression. “That boy loves you for who you are. Be yourself, and all will be fine in the end. You’ll see.”

_ Be myself? _ Iruka thought as he silently took his leave.  _ Being myself clearly isn’t enough. I have to be better.  _ He took the long way home, clinging to the long shadows and avoiding the dying rays of the sunlight as he went. It felt appropriate, somehow, slinking home like he’d been defeated. 

Once he got home, he had his nightly mug of blood, and settled down for an early night since there was no homework to grade. The new semester would be starting soon, but Iruka wasn’t planning on changing up his lesson plans all that much, so he didn’t need to start preparing them right away. His plan was to try and sleep, but the problem was his vampire brain didn’t want to let him sleep. He was always more active at night. Typically he slept from dawn until midday on weekends, then worked the late shift at the Mission Desk. A few hours of sleep was generally more than enough to carry him through a week, but sleeping at night was much harder than sleeping during the daytime. Just another one of those vampire things that took some getting used to. 

So instead of sleeping, Iruka lay on his back and stared at his ceiling, his mind drawing up more and more painful memories of his childhood, of loss, of pain, and imagining how horrible Naruto must be feeling now. Maybe he  _ should _ have let him graduate? But he didn’t want him graduating before he was really ready for it, he wasn’t going to force him through when he didn’t have to! But Naruto had looked so  _ heartbroken, _ and Iruka had been the one to do that to him! Every time Naruto was scolded, he would respond with a dark look or a rude gesture or some other inappropriate reaction. He hadn’t done that this time, though. Naruto had been upset, horribly upset, and it was  _ Iruka’s fault. _ Mizuki wanted to let it slide, and Iruka had been the one to say no. 

He hadn’t done it to be cruel, but he was so afraid that Naruto would see it that way. It hurt, and Iruka knew he didn’t have the right to feel hurt over something he’d done to someone else, but it didn’t stop the ache in his chest. He wanted to do right by the boy, wanted him to be safe, but maybe he’d made the wrong decision. His own childhood had been so fraught with loneliness and misery, was it really fair of him to put Naruto through the same kind of suffering? Maybe he would be better off on a Genin team. Iruka groaned, flinging an arm over his eyes and sighing. He didn’t know. He needed to stop thinking about it.

Not too long after dusk, a loud pounding on his door roused him instantly. He stumbled to the entryway, yanking the door open. “What is it?” He asked.

Outside his door stood Mizuki, eyes wide, panting hard. “It’s Naruto!” he exclaimed, frantic. “He’s- he’s stolen the scroll of seals!” 

“What?” Iruka gasped, horrified.  _ The scroll of seals? It’s full of forbidden techniques! Why would Naruto take something like that? _

“The Hokage is calling everyone together to look for him!” Mizuki continued, “Let’s go!”

Iruka nodded. “Just a moment.” He ducked back inside, tugging on his flak jacket and securing his thigh holster, rejoining Mizuki a moment later. “Let’s go.”

The two of them sped across the village, arriving at the designated meeting place in record time. As they were arriving, Iruka could already hear some of the other shinobi exclaiming things like “He’s gone too far!” and “We have to stop him!” and “No matter what it takes!”

Stepping forward, the Hokage cleared his throat, and all of the gathered shinobi immediately fell silent. “As you have all heard,” he announced in a somber tone, “The scroll that Naruto has taken is incredibly dangerous. The techniques within are so forbidden that the First Hokage himself sealed them away. If this knowledge were to fall into the wrong hands, the results could be catastrophic.”

Iruka nodded firmly with the rest of the shinobi, but his mind wasn’t on the scroll retrieval at all. He knew all too well that Naruto was not a beloved member of the shinobi community. Now these people were out for  _ blood, _ and Naruto… he was just a kid! Was it possible he was acting out due to his poor exam results? Of course, this was  _ Naruto. _ Still, Iruka was certain that no matter how angry Naruto was, he wouldn’t knowingly act against the village. At least, not like this. There had to be some sort of misunderstanding, but he knew that no one else would bother to discern the truth in their zeal to retrieve the scroll. Iruka took a deep breath, immediately wracking his brain for ideas. He  _ had _ to find Naruto. The boy’s very life might well depend on it! 

“The boy must be found and the scroll must be recovered!” the Hokage declared, gesturing sharply with his hand. “Now go!”

As one, the shinobi scattered in search of the missing boy.

Heart pounding (and that was something of an impressive feat considering Iruka’s undead body really didn’t  _ need _ blood flow the way a living body did), Iruka sprinted across the village, already knowing where he was headed.  _ It has to be the forest, _ he thought.  _ He won’t want me to find him, and he knows I know the village like the back of my hand.  _ It was almost funny. To the pre-genin in his classes, Iruka was a village fixture. The idea that Iruka might be equally comfortable in the forest surrounding Konoha as he was on the market street seemed incomprehensible to his students. He supposed it had something to do with context - you never expected to see your academy instructor out on a mission, even though all of the instructors were required to take regular missions to keep their skills sharp (as if dodging pre-genin kunai wasn’t enough to keep them on their toes). Naruto would almost certainly be in the forest.

The forest was big, but Naruto probably wouldn’t go too far, so Iruka began to make his way around the outskirts of the village, keeping to the areas that were more easily accessible. It only took him about an hour before he heard Naruto squawking in the distance. He was now more certain than ever that this had to be a misunderstanding. Adjusting his trajectory, Iruka continued speeding towards his student. It wasn’t until he was about halfway there when he felt like an idiot - he could  _ smell _ Naruto, the scent of  _ human _ was clear and unmistakable to his vampire senses. Even though it felt  _ wrong, _ somehow, to use his predatory instincts like this, Iruka was more concerned with being the first person to find Naruto, because he had no idea what would happen if someone  _ else _ found him. In no time at all, Iruka was able to find the clearing where Naruto had apparently been spending his evening. It was a small resupply station not far from Konoha, but far enough that if a Shinobi was in bad shape they’d be able to stop, rest, and resupply before completing their journey to the village. Naruto didn’t appear to have gone inside the station building as he was outside the small structure. The forbidden scroll was there too, looped over his back. Naruto was seated on the ground, panting heavily, a look of weary pride on his face, and Iruka didn’t know what that look  _ meant. _

Stalking forward, Iruka debated with himself between screaming the boy’s ear off or actually giving him the chance to explain himself. Iruka erred on the side of  _ quiet, _ mostly because he didn’t want some other weapon-happy shinobi to waltz in and kill Naruto before he could be cleared of any wrongdoing. 

“Oi, Naruto,” Iruka snarled, stalking up to him, the words  _ what the  _ **_hell_ ** _ do you think you’re doing? _ on the tip of his tongue. Then Naruto looked up at him with a genuine smile and Iruka’s heart leaped in his chest. 

“Aha,” Naruto giggled - he  _ giggled! - _ scrubbing at the back of his neck and pointing at Iruka. “Found you!”

“Found  _ me?!” _ Iruka choked, all of the admonitions he planned to let lose instantly eclipsed by the absurdity of that statement. “What do you  _ mean, _ you found me? I found  _ you!” _

Naruto leaned back on his palms, gazing up at Iruka for a moment before shrugging. “Oh yeah, I guess you did.” 

He was still grinning up at Iruka and Iruka didn’t know what to think about the situation anymore. He had been expecting a sullen, angry, rebellious Naruto, not  _ this. _ If he wasn’t angry, why was he here? What was he  _ doing? _

“Kind of a bummer, though,” Naruto continued, sheepishly rising to his feet. “You found me so fast, I only had time to memorize one technique.”

_ Technique? _ Iruka thought, looking Naruto over again. He looked exhausted. “You mean you’ve been… training?” he asked, glancing around. No weapons, no massive areas of destruction… Even the small supply building looked untouched. There was no real clue as to what exactly the boy had been up to. “What for?”

“What else?” Naruto threw his arms wide. “Ninjutsu! I figured if I could show you that I’ve mastered these techniques, you’d  _ have _ to graduate me!”

Iruka opened his mouth to argue that graduation didn’t exactly work like that when his brain caught up with Naruto’s words. “Wait. You said technique. What techniques are you studying?” Had Naruto spent the whole night training? Maybe he wasn’t mad at Iruka after all. But then  _ why _ had he run off to secretly train in the woods? 

“The techniques in this scroll! If I can show you I’ve mastered them, then you’ll  _ have _ to let me graduate!” Naruto declared, a broad grin shining on his face.

Iruka felt sick, staring at the scroll full of  _ incredibly dangerous, forbidden techniques. _ And Naruto had been planning to learn them all? He could have killed himself trying! Those techniques were forbidden for a reason! Granted, Iruka didn’t know the exact reason, as he’d never laid eyes on any of the techniques contained within the scroll, but he trusted the Hokage had kept them hidden for good reason. How had Naruto ever come to the conclusion that Iruka would want to see him master these techniques? Iruka would never want anything of the sort. “Why would I…” Iruka shook his head sharply, changing his tactic. “Why do you think -” No, that wasn’t. “Who told you that?” He finally asked, finally realizing that this wasn’t an idea that Naruto could have concocted on his own. Someone else had to have been involved.

“It was Mizuki-sensei!” Naruto reported, smiling as wide as ever. “He told me about this scroll, about this place, and he said…”

Naruto must have seen the look on Iruka’s face, because his smile dimmed. 

In the same instant, Iruka sensed  _ vicious _ killing intent, and he moved instinctively, lunging forward to knock Naruto aside. A small hail of kunai knocked him back against the supply building, and he grunted at the sharp impact. Eyes casting around the clearing, Iruka quickly spotted Mizuki, perched on an overhead branch. His mind was still  _ reeling. _ Why would Mizuki tell Naruto that he could graduate? Why would Mizuki tell him to steal the scroll? Why would Mizuki tell him to wait alone in the forest far from the village? Why? 

He knew  _ exactly _ why, but he didn’t want to believe it.

“I’m impressed you figure out where to find him,” Mizuki’s voice drifted down from overhead, more malicious and cruel than Iruka ever could have expected.

“Now I get it,” Iruka grunted through clenched teeth, eyes fixed on his friend - former friend, now - carelessly tugging one of the daggers from his arm. He wasn’t going to bleed out from a few cuts, and he still had his flask of blood. He’d be fine. His injuries weren’t the priority at the moment. 

“Naruto,” Mizuki called, gazing down at the two of them, his eyes glittering in the soft moonlight, “Give me the scroll.”

“H-hey,” Naruto cried nervously, clambering back to his feet and glancing between Mizuki and Iruka, eyes wide, “What’s going on?”

“Naruto,” Iruka grunted, yanking out another dagger from his thigh and dropping it to the ground. He dearly hoped the boy would listen to him for  _ once, _ “Don’t you  _ dare _ give him that scroll. Protect it with your life, you hear me?” 

Naruto was staring at Iruka, his face growing paler as Iruka continued.

“The techniques contained within are strictly forbidden,” Iruka continued, gritting his teeth and pulling out another dagger. He wasn’t necessarily in danger of bleeding out, but he still felt  _ pain, _ and he was trying to keep an eye on Mizuki and another on Naruto, and the pain was starting to affect his concentration. Maybe he  _ was _ getting soft _. _ “That scroll is more dangerous than you could possibly imagine!” He could hear his volume climbing as he continued to speak, practically shouting at this point, and he really wasn’t sure who he was shouting at - Mizuki, for betraying him, or Naruto, for actually listening to an adult for once, just for it to be the wrong adult? In any case, he was shouting. “He  _ used _ you, Naruto! He used you to get the scroll!” It hurt to think that Mizuki would do that to one of his precious students, especially to someone like Naruto, who already had so few people in his life that he could trust. How horrible! And Iruka had been the one to create this opportunity, hadn’t he? He had been the one to fail Naruto, after all. Would Naruto have listened to Mizuki if he weren’t so desperate to graduate? This was really all Iruka’s fault.

“Iruka’s just afraid,” Mizuki sneered down at Iruka before turning his attention to Naruto. “Afraid of the power within that scroll. Afraid of how powerful  _ you  _ could become if you use it,” he added. 

“What are you saying?!” Iruka exploded, stumbling a half-step forward and feeling his muscles tug in protest. One of the daggers must have clipped some tendons or something. He gritted his teeth and tried to pull himself together, yanking out another kunai. “Mizuki!”

Mizuki didn’t even look at him, his predatory gaze now fixed on Naruto as he chuckled low in his throat. “But I’m not afraid of you,  _ or _ the scroll, Naruto. I can tell you how to use it. I can tell you the truth…”

“What are you talking about-!” Iruka began, his heart sinking as he saw the look of scorn in Mizuki’s eyes. Oh. No. He wouldn’t, would he? 

“I can tell you what happened twelve years ago,” Mizuki concluded, “An incident so terrible that ever since, everyone in the village has been forbidden to speak of it to you.”

“I don’t remember anything like that,” Naruto said, his forehead wrinkling in confusion. “What can’t anyone say to me? What happened?!” he was beginning to sound panicked, his eyes growing wild. 

“Stop it, Mizuki!” Iruka shouted, realizing where this was headed and wanting to spare Naruto from a horrible revelation. “Don’t!”

“We are forbidden from telling you that  _ you  _ are really the demon fox,” Mizuki snarled, cruel laughter in his tone as he leaned forward.

Naruto stumbled back as though physically struck. “What are you talking about?” he cried,  glancing between Mizuki and Iruka as if seeking some answer that Iruka couldn’t give.

_ Oh Naruto… you never should have found out like this, _ Iruka thought helplessly. 

“In other words,” Mizuki snarled,  _ “You _ are the one responsible for the death of Iruka’s parents.  _ You’re _ the one that destroyed the village!”

“Stop it!” Iruka screamed, testing his limbs, reactions still sluggish after the wounds. “Mizuki,  _ stop!” _

“And then,” Mizuki continued, “Our beloved Fourth Hokage bound you in this form, at the expense of his own life!” 

_ Don’t you dare, _ Iruka thought frantically.  _ “STOP!” _ He roared, the scream catching in his throat as blood bubbled through his lips. Oh. Shit. One of those daggers must have caught something internal after all. He clutched at his chest, trying to find the weak point, but his lungs were crackling in his chest and he couldn’t identify the source of the problem. Some vampire he was. At least he didn’t think a kunai qualified as a stake or he might have been in more trouble, he realized, tugging another dagger out of his chest, dangerously close to his barely-beating heart. 

“Ever since that day,” Mizuki continued, his voice dipping into a dangerous purr, “You’ve been made a fool of by everyone in this village.” He chuckled. “Didn’t you think it odd, the way everyone hated you, before they even knew you?” Mizuki shot a vicious look in Iruka’s direction them. “Even your precious Iruka, if he were  _ honest, _ would admit that he hates you too! And why wouldn’t he?!” Mizuki’s voice climbed into a screech as he lifted one of the massive fuuma shuriken strapped to his back and setting it spinning. 

Things were spiralling out of control. Iruka pulled away from the shack entirely, forcing his limbs to move. They seemed to struggle to obey his commands, like he was walking in an unfamiliar body, like it was stiff and lifeless (it was). None of that mattered now, though. Not when Naruto was sprawled on the ground, terrified, staring up at a man he thought he could trust who had just torn his whole world apart. He needed to reach him, to comfort him, to reassure him! Iruka knew that his own experience, while horrible, was still nothing compared to what Naruto endured. Hated by the entire village and never knowing  _ why, _ desperate for attention since he didn’t dare hope for love… 

Iruka’s own pain, compared to that? It was nothing.  “Naruto,” he choked, lungs seizing in his chest because  _ no, _ technically he didn’t need to breathe or a beating heart anymore, but he still needed air to speak, and his lungs were filling with the thick, viscous black liquid that passed for blood in Iruka’s veins. 

“No one!” Mizuki roared, his eyes wild, his face split in two with a horrible grin, “Will  _ ever,” _ he pulled his arm back, preparing to throw the fuuma shuriken, “accept you!”

And Iruka knew he had to  _ move _ or lose everything. So he did, his body surging into motion, crossing the space between him and Naruto in an instant. His vision was blurry, his chest spasming as it tried to force out the liquid pooling in his lungs. 

“Now die!” Mizuki snarled.

Naruto scrambled back, too inexperienced to know what to do, too surprised to react appropriately to an attack. Iruka knew what to do, though, throwing himself between Mizuki and Naruto. He didn’t have any weapons strong enough to deflect a fuuma shuriken. His body could be the shield that kept Naruto safe, though, and so that’s what he did. The impact hurt more than he’d expected - but then, Iruka had never allowed himself to get hit by one before. His whole body screamed at the impact, pain radiating through his spine from one end to the other. His lungs, already spasming, clenched tight, a spray of blood escaping his mouth and splattering across Naruto’s face. 

“Naruto,” Iruka gasped, arms trembling from the effort of holding him up. 

Naruto shifted, gazing up at him, his blue eyes wide. “W-why?” he asked, voice quivering. 

Iruka  _ never _ wanted to tell him like this, never wanted  _ this _ to be the moment he explained everything. Hell, he didn’t want to be the one explaining this at all, but the moment had come and he had to say  _ something. _ “Because I…” Iruka sucked in another breath, feeling his body straining to heal the cuts, he didn’t have the  _ energy _ for a wound like this, but that wasn’t  _ important _ now, he had blood, he’d be fine. This was what mattered. “I’m like you,” Iruka said softly. “Naruto, when I lost my parents, I was so lonely,” he said, his vision blurring with tears as he continued. “There was no one to praise me, to respect me… no one even noticed I was there.” Another breath, another weak cough, another splatter of blood across Naruto’s face, but Iruka kept going, desperate to explain, to make him  _ understand. _ “So I started acting out, playing the fool. I just wanted someone to notice me.” Iruka shut his eyes briefly, remembering. “Being the class clown was still better than being a nobody.” The tears were coming now, choking his voice as he continued, “It hurt… so much…” He took another shuddering breath. “I know it hurts, Naruto. And I know I was hard on you, yelling, scolding… it must have hurt…” This was all his fault. He had to make it right. Naruto had to know this  _ wasn’t his fault, _ none of it, not the destruction of the village, not Iruka’s parents, not even this stupid night and Mizuki’s betrayal. None of it was  _ Naruto’s _ fault. “I’m so sorry, Naruto,” Iruka choked through his tears, “If I’d been a better teacher, a better person, maybe this wouldn’t have happened…” 

“Don’t make me laugh!” Mizuki roared from his place overhead, somewhere behind Iruka. “Iruka’s always hated you for killing his parents! The only reason he came here at all was to get the scroll back!”

Iruka froze, eyes fixed on Naruto, who stared up at him, a shadow flitting across his face. 

“No,” Iruko gasped, blood bubbling at his lips, “Naruto, that’s not-”

With a soft shuddering breath, Naruto turned, scrambling out from under Iruka, and ran.

**_“Naruto!”_ ** Iruka screamed, collapsing forward as his lungs spasmed at the volume and intensity of the shout. The boy didn’t turn around, didn’t even look back. Maybe it would turn out all right? Maybe he’d gone back to the village for help. Not that the other shinobi would be willing to give Naruto time to explain himself, Iruka realized with a groan. Maybe Naruto had listened to Iruka, for once, and was going to hide with the scroll, to keep it safe? (It seemed like he was much more inclined to listen to Mizuki, though.) 

He heard the soft sound of Mizuki landing behind him, and he groaned. His limbs were heavy as lead, he  _ needed _ his blood if he wanted to make it through the night without going full feral. Already his senses were on high alert - though that could be the residual effect of learning Mizuki was a traitor. Everything was horrible and Iruka couldn’t shake the feeling that it was all his fault, somehow. 

“Look at him go,” Mizuki sneered, taking one step towards Iruka, then another, gesturing in the direction Naruto had fled. “He’ll use that scroll to take his revenge on the village, now. And once he’s set his mind to something, you know he won’t be stopped.”

Iruka swallowed hard.  _ No, Naruto… he wouldn’t.  _ Mizuki didn’t know Naruto as well as he thought. Groaning, he straightened up, reaching back and grabbing the fuuma shuriken embedded in his back. 

“Did you see the look in his eyes?” Mizuki crowed. “Those were the eyes of the demon fox.”

Gritting his teeth, Iruka tore out the fuuma shuriken with a low scream. His nostrils flared as he scented the air.  _ Blood. He needed bood. _ Shaking his head sharply, Iruka tried to focus. “If you really think that,” he ground out, “You don’t know Naruto.”

Mizuki snorted derisively. “I don’t have to know him to kill him!” he snarled, taking off after the boy.

Iruka fumbled in his flak jacket for his flask. He popped the top, tipping back the whole thing. But it was barely half-full. He hadn’t expected combat tonight, certainly hadn’t anticipated taking a fuuma shuriken to the spine, and the blood on his tongue only seemed to whet his appetite, not appease it. Groaning, Iruka pulled out the last few kunai from his arms and legs, running his tongue over his teeth, which had gone sharp along the edges. Shit. He hadn’t been this close to losing it in awhile. Shaking his head, Iruka summoned up what little energy he had left. He needed to craft a disguise if he was going to throw Mizuki off Naruto’s trail. 

For all his bluster, in the time it took Iruka to transform himself and a log into a semblance of Naruto and the scroll, Mizuki apparently hadn’t been able to find Naruto. Iruka’s senses were heightened by the night, his hunger, and the frantic desperation that if he didn’t stop Mizuki, Naruto would be dead by morning. He quickly was able to identify the route they’d taken by the scent of sweat alone, and he was able to get ahead of Mizuki more out of sheer bullheadedness than out of actual energy. His limbs felt like stones, his whole body screaming for  _ blood, blood, blood _ and all Iruka  _ really _ wanted was to make sure Naruto was safe. 

So when Mizuki appeared wearing the face of Iruka, it came as something of a surprise. After all the time Mizuki had spent trying to convince Naruto that Iruka hated him, why would he try to catch the boy using Iruka’s face? 

“Naruto!” Mizuki called, his voice just a little too gleeful. He never had been a great actor. “Quick, give me the scroll! It’s what Mizuki’s after!”

A little on the nose there, wasn’t he? With a sharp look in Mizuki’s direction, Iruka shifted his weight midair, hitting the next branch at a different angle and launching himself into Mizuki, taking the both of them to the ground. He hit the ground harder than intended, his ankle screaming in protest.  _ Yeah, yeah, _ Iruka thought at it, staggering back and falling against a tree trunk, cradling the fake scroll in his lap as he glared at Mizuki. 

“H-how?” Mizuki peeled himself up off the ground gracelessly, an out-of-place sneer on Iruka’s face. “How did you know I wasn’t Iruka?” he demanded, dropping the transformation and glaring furiously at Iruka.

“Because,” Iruka said wearily, dropping his own transformation, “I am.”

“I see,” Mizuki said, throwing his head back and laughing cruelly. “So noble of you, saving your parents’ murderer! And for what? What happens if he lives?”

“Well for one thing,” Iruka wheezed, “The scroll would be safe from you.” 

“You’re a fool,” Mizuki snarled, taking another step closer.

He’d been scraped by the fall, and all Iruka could smell was  _ blood, blood, blood, _ coming closer. He stared harder, trying desperately to focus. He  _ couldn’t _ let this happen, not here, not so close to the village, not with _ Naruto _ still out there. “How so?” he asked, almost willing himself to say seated.  _ Blood. Blood. Blood. _

“We’re two of a kind,” Mizuki declared. “I want to use that scroll to achieve power. The demon within him hungers for the same.” 

_ Not true, _ Iruka thought faintly amidst the growing chant of  _ blood! blood! blood! _ coursing through his body. 

“You were right to fear him… to despise him,” Mizuki continued, stalking even closer to Iruka. 

_ What an idiot, _ Iruka thought.  _ Come closer, prey, _ thought the vampire. “Maybe I do hate the fox,” Iruka managed, struggling to collect his thoughts. “But not Naruto. Not the boy.” 

Mizuki stilled, his eyes narrowing as he stared down at Iruka. “Oh?”

“For him I have nothing but respect,” Iruka clarified. “He’s an excellent student. He works with all his might. He may screw up sometimes, he might be awkward or clumsy, and you’re right, people mock and shun him just for who he is. But,” Iruka took a deep breath, “It hasn’t broken him. It’s given him empathy. He knows what it is to be in pain.” Eyes boring into Mizuki, trying desperately to explain to him what Iruka had known for some time now, he continued. “That  _ boy _ is no longer your demon fox, Mizuki. He is Uzumaki Naruto, a citizen of Konohagakure!” 

“How cute,” Mizuki sneered. “I suppose that’ll do for some last words from you. You were always too soft, and this just proves it,” he waved a hand in Iruka’s direction. “I could kill you now,” he continued, removing the second fuuma shuriken from his back and lazily twirling it around his hand twice. 

“You could,” Iruka acknowledged. 

“I really could,” Mizuki clarified, reached into a pocket, pulled out a small chain. “Silver. To keep you from healing.”

Iruka had expected nothing less. Mizuki had planned this from the start. He wouldn’t have left something like that to chance. “So no stake through the heart?” Iruka asked neutrally, though the effect was rather ruined by his lungs choosing that moment to hit him with another coughing fit. 

Mizukui sneered at that, wrapping the silver chain around his fuuma shuriken with casual grace. “You’re a  _ creature of the night, _ Iruka. I’m not coming near you, not when you’re already on edge.” 

Iruka cleared his throat, trying to move, and was surprised at how hard it was to even lift his limbs. A few cuts and bruises shouldn’t have hit this hard, but the blood he’d used earlier already seemed to be wearing off. 

“Feeling uncomfortable?” Mizuki asked nonchalantly. “I heard somewhere that consecrating your weapons with holy water makes them more effective against undead creatures… and then I dipped them in garlic oil. Just to be sure,” he added with a wink. 

Iruka groaned low in his throat. Well that explained why his body was burning, at least. He should have taken the kunai out sooner.

“I’m disappointed, you know,” Mizuki said bitterly. “I had planned to save you for last.” He indicated the silver chain. “I wanted to choke the life out of you, watch the undeath bleed out of you, but now… well, I just don’t have time for that.” He drew back the fuuma shuriken, a horrible smile on his face. “Say goodbye!”

Oddly, Iruka didn’t feel upset. Really, he should have died years ago, back when that vampire first bit him. He was glad he’d had the chance to live these extra years, but he was tired, he couldn’t move, and at least he’d distracted Mizuki long enough for Naruto to escape…

A blur of fast-moving orange intercepted Mizuki mid-strike, sending him flying one way and the shuriken another. Skidding to a stop, Naruto braced the scroll beside him, holding it with one hand, his eyes locked on Mizuki. When he spoke, it was with more intensity and depth than Iruka could ever remember hearing before. “Don’t you dare touch Iruka-sensei,” he snarled. “Or I’ll  _ kill you.” _

“NO!” Iruka shouted, furious and proud and terrified all at once, “You idiot! You should have run! Get out of here!” 

“Ha!” Mizuki laughed, “Loudmouth brat! I can kill you and him  _ both _ in one shot!” 

“You’re welcome to  _ try,” _ Naruto growled, his hands forming some sort of seal in front of him. “I’ll hand it right back to you, times a  _ thousand!” _

_ Now is not the time to exaggerate! _ Iruka thought frantically.  _ Run! Go!  _

“You’re welcome to try, little fox!” Mizuki roared, charging at Naruto. 

Frantically, Iruka tried to pull himself up. As he tried to move, he heard Naruto shout - a shadow clone jutsu? And suddenly, the clearing was  _ full _ of shadow clones. It wasn’t ten, or twenty, or even a hundred. Iruka realized what Naruto had meant, when he’d said he’d hand it back times a thousand. There had to be  _ a thousand _ shadow clones filling the clearing. 

“What the-?!” Mizuki screeched, clearly as unsettled by the incident as Iruka. “How did you-?”

“What’s the matter, tough guy?” one of the clones called, dangling from a tree. “You’re going to kill me with one punch, remember? Come on!”

_ Oh Naruto, _ Iruka realized,  _ That’s what you were training tonight? Multiple clones? _ If he’d progressed from producing one sub-par clone to a single high-caliber clone in one night, that would have been impressive enough. But  _ this? _ Iruka shook his head in amazement, a small smile creeping across his face as he took in the  _ horde _ of Naruto-clones filling the clearing. This was serious ninjutsu. If Naruto could pull something like this off, perhaps the title of Hokage wouldn’t be quite as unrealistic a goal as he’d once thought.

“Well? Nothing to say to that, huh?” Another duplicate called from the other side of the clearing. “Then I guess I’ll just have to attack  _ you!” _

And with that, a veritable army of Naruto-clones converged on Mizuki. Despite the disparity of training between Mizuki and Naruto, there was a distinct advantage in numbers on Naruto’s side, and before long, Naruto had not only subdued Mizuki but knocked him out cold. 

Mizuki was bleeding. 

_ Blood. _

Naruto grinned, scratching at the back of his neck as he turned to Iruka. “Ahaha, I guess I got carried away.”

_ Blood. _

Naruto took a step closer. His knuckles were scraped. He must have done it when punching Mizuki.

_ Blood. _

There was blood on his sandal, too. Mizuki’s blood. It smelled so good. He was so weak… it was only a little bit… Iruka clenched his fists, shutting his eyes. “Naruto,” he grunted through numb lips, “Don’t… it’s not safe…”

“Not safe?” Iruka heard him take another step forward. “What do you mean, Iruka-sensei? Mizuki-sensei is out like a light! Are you okay?”

_ Blood. _

“Naruto,” Iruka groaned. “Stop.”

“Stop?” Naruto’s voice quivered. “But I thought…” 

_ Blood. Blood. Blood. _

The smell filled his nostrils, his whole body practically shook with need. “Your blood,” Iruka choked. Another conversation he never wanted to have, and certainly not this soon. “His blood. It’s too much…” 

“Blood?” Naruto repeated softly. 

His flask was long empty. There was blood  _ right there in front of him. _ He needed it. He needed it  _ now. _ “I want… to drink it…” Iruka groaned, clutching at the base of the tree in a futile effort to hold himself back. “Run, Naruto… It’s not safe…”

_ Blood. Blood. Blood. _

“Don’t worry, Iruka-sensei!” Naruto said cheerfully. “I trust you.”

_ Blood! Blood! Blood! _

Eyes snapping open, Iruka lunged forward, not sure if he was going for Naruto or Mizuki, not sure it mattered. He  _ needed _ blood, he needed it  _ now _ and he was going to take whatever he could sink his fangs into. The panicked, wide-eyed face that flashed before his eyes was enough to stop him momentarily. He’d knocked Naruto to the ground and was holding him down. He could feel his cheeks pulled wide, teeth bared in a horrible snarl inches from the boy’s throat when his whole body froze, his mind warring with his instincts. 

No,  _ no! _ Not this! Never this! A scream building in his throat, Iruka threw himself backwards. He hit the ground hard, his arms and legs limp as the energy of bloodthirst slacked, leaving him on the ground, wheezing through battered lungs. “Sorry… I’m sorry,” he gasped, “I don’t… I’m sorry… Naruto…”

Another soft step. And then Naruto was crouched beside him. “Iruka-sensei?” Naruto said softly. “Are you…?” 

“I’m a vampire,” Iruka gasped, trying to scoot away before he lost control again. “Please… you have to go…”

Naruto glared down at Iruka, setting his jaw stubbornly. “How much blood do you need?” 

Iruka blinked. “What?”

“How much?” Naruto demanded, his gaze sharp. 

“I don’t…” Iruka coughed, “Never been injured this bad … most ninja don’t use… garlic-coated… weapons...”

Naruto scowled. “I should have realized! You’re always avoiding sunlight, too!” 

“Naruto…”

“How much blood, Iruka-sensei?” Naruto grabbed one of Iruka’s kunai and licked it. “No garlic on this one,” he declared. “Do you have a cup?” 

“You can’t,” Iruka choked, black blood bubbling at his lips. “Don’t!”

“There’s gotta be something…” Naruto hopped over to Mizuki. “Oh hey, he’s got some sort of… ooh, nope, I bet that’s probably holy water. Don’t want to put the blood in that, it’d probably make you feel worse…”

“Naruto,” Iruka groaned, finally managing to lift his head. “This isn’t your responsibility.”

Whirling around, Naruto fixed a horrible glare on Iruka. “Don’t be stupid, Iruka-sensei. Do you have anything for blood or not?”

Iruka fumbled at his flak jacket, but his fingers were so numb he couldn’t seem to make them work. Naruto must have figured it out, because the overwhelming scent of  _ blood  _ was suddenly right under Iruka’s nose as Naruto dug into the pouches. He clenched his jaw and held his breath, fighting desperately to keep his head. A low whine was building in his throat and he swallowed hard, shutting his eyes, but he  _ knew _ that there was  _ blood, right there, blood, just drink it, you need it, blood!  _ **_Blood!_ **

“Got it!” Naruto called, hopping a few feet away before speaking again. “It might take a minute or two,” he mused, “can you hold on that long?”

**_Blood!_ **

Clenching his jaw, Iruka grunted, not brave enough to open his eyes yet.  _ Don’t you dare, _ he snarled at himself.  _ You’ll never forgive yourself. _

“Uh, I think I’ll try a second cut, it’s going really slow…” 

**_BLOOD!_ **

Iruka could hold his breath indefinitely, but it required concentration because he was still a new vampire and some of these things - blood flow, breathing, sleeping, to name a few - while not strictly necessary, still felt natural to him. Eyes closed, holding his breath, Iruka heard Naruto curse under his breath.  _ I don’t think he learned that one from me, _ Iruka thought, then nearly laughed at the absurdity of such a concern at a time like this. 

“Iruka-sensei? You’re not breathing…” Naruto said, anxiety trembling in his voice.

“Don’t need to,” Iruka forced out the last of the air in his lungs.  _ Don’t inhale, don’t inhale, don’t inhale, _ he thought furiously.

“Oh.” A few paces to his right, Naruto shuffled a bit before adding, “Okay. Good. I guess. Why are your eyes closed?”

“Blood,” Iruka squeaked, amazed he still had air for the word. 

“It’s coming soon,” Naruto said reassuringly, obviously misinterpreting Iruka’s answer as a request. Stupid,  _ stupid _ boy. He should be  _ running, _ not sitting beside an undead predator like it was the normal thing to do on a Friday night. 

Iruka held his breath, every second that passed more terrifying than the last. How long before he lost control completely? He’d already grabbed Naruto once, if he did it again he might not be able to stop himself in time. Why hadn’t he noticed the garlic on the kunai? Why hadn’t he brought more blood with him? How had he become so complacent? 

“Iruka-sensei?” Naruto’s voice hovered over him, a slim arm sliding under his head, tilting it up slightly. “You can open your eyes now. And your mouth, too.”

Iruka felt the cool rim of his flask pressed to his lips as his eyes opened, meeting the concerned blue gaze hovering over him. Naruto’s eyebrows were furrowed together in a frown, watching Iruka carefully as he tipped the flask up. 

He wanted to hate it, but he couldn’t. The blood was exactly what he needed - better, even. It was warm and it didn’t taste like it had been refrigerated and stored in plastic bags for days. Once he started drinking, it was like he couldn’t stop. He drank every drop he could get from the flask, and there was still an aching  _ hunger _ in him that threatened to overwhelm him at any moment. But he could finally think clearly again, and the smell of smeared blood on Naruto’s wrist wasn’t enough to send him into a frenzy, so it must have been enough. 

“You’re such an idiot,” Iruka rasped before turning on his side and coughing up what felt like an entire lung’s worth of viscous black vampire blood. 

“Iruka-sensei?” Naruto’s voice trembled. “Are you okay now? Do you need more blood?” 

Inhaling deeply, Iruka was pleased to note that both lungs seemed to be working. His healing abilities must have gotten enough blood behind them to combat the holy water and garlic. “I’m fine,” he said, pushing himself up from the ground and flopping back against the tree with a wince. “Mostly,” he amended, his back reminding him that there was still a recent wound there, and he definitely hadn’t had enough blood to fix  _ everything. _

“Oh good,” Naruto said, slumping to the ground across from him. “Because I feel kind of dizzy.”

Immediately, Iruka leaned forward, eyeing Naruto carefully. “You look pale,” he said.

“I haven’t eaten since breakfast yesterday,” Naruto confessed, scratching at the back of his head and chuckling awkwardly. “I was too nervous, and then I was too frustrated, and then I was training.” 

“How many times do I have to tell you not to skip meals?” Iruka groused. “Part of being a great shinobi is keeping your body in top condition.” 

Naruto was giving Iruka a look. “No offense, Iruka-sensei, but should you  _ really _ be the one lecturing me about taking care of my body right now?”

“That’s enough from you, brat,” Iruka snapped, then sighed, tilting his head back and resting it against the tree. “I’m sorry.”

“For what?” Naruto asked, sounding genuinely confused. 

“Everything,” Iruka replied, equally baffled. “But especially for not telling you about my… condition. Being a vampire, I mean.” 

Naruto tilted his head slightly, narrowing his eyes as he stared back at Iruka. “I don’t see why you need to apologize for something like that.”

“I attacked you!” Iruka exclaimed. “What kind of decent person  _ does _ that? I’m a… a monster.” He ducked his head, staring down at his hands, unable to meet the boy’s gaze. “If you hated me for this, I … I’d understand.”

“Iruka-sensei.” Naruto’s voice was sincere in a way Iruka could only recall hearing on very rare occasions. “I don’t hate you.”

Iruka chuckled bitterly. “Maybe you should.”

“Mizuki-sensei said I have the nine-tailed demon fox inside me, right?” Naruto asked. “The one that destroyed the village twelve years ago?” 

“That’s right,” Iruka said. “I’m sorry I never told you.”

Naruto looked hard at Iruka, his bright blue eyes boring into him. “Do you think I’m a monster?”

“Of course not!” Iruka cried, horrified. “You’re  _ Naruto, _ not a demon fox!”

“And you’re  _ Iruka-sensei, _ not a vampire,” Naruto replied, nodding firmly. “If you don’t think of me as a monster, knowing what I am, is it so hard to believe that I can feel the same way about you?” 

_Oh._ Iruka felt a weight lift from his chest that he hadn’t even realized was there. A moment later he smiled, reaching out and ruffling Naruto’s hair affectionately. “When did you get so smart?” he asked.

“I don’t know,” Naruto replied with a shrug, “but I did learn a whole new technique last night, so I must be getting smarter.”

“You must be,” Iruka agreed absently, concocting a rather unconventional plan of action. He was pretty sure the Hokage would back him up, though, so he decided to follow through on his frankly ridiculous idea. Cautiously, he pushed himself to his feet, biting back a groan. Yep, definitely not healed yet. “Come here, I have something for you.”

Naruto scooted over without complaint, standing in front of Iruka. “Yeah?”

“Close your eyes,” Iruka ordered him, amazed when the boy did as he asked without complaint. He really did trust Iruka without reservations. The realization both pleased and terrified Iruka in equal measure. To have the darkness within him fully known, and to still be trusted so completely… Swallowing hard, Iruka reached out and gently slipped Naruto’s goggles away from his forehead, removing them carefully. Next he gently tugged off his own hitai-ate, tying it around Naruto’s forehead.

“Are you done?” Naruto asked, squirming in place.

“Go ahead and open your eyes,” Iruka said softly. 

Naruto’s eyes popped open and immediately zeroed in on Iruka’s bare forehead. 

“Congratulations, graduate,” Iruka smiled. 

Naruto stared back at him with wide eyes, speechless.

After a long moment of dead silence, Iruka fumbled for something else to say. “So! To celebrate, how about we go grab some ramen?”

Naruto stared back at him, lips trembling for another moment or two before bodily flinging himself at Iruka with a sharp cry,  _ “Iruka-sensei!” _

“Ah, watch it!” Iruka yelped as the two of them crashed into the tree, sliding back down to the ground, “I’m not completely healed yet!” 

“You really mean it?” Naruto yelled as he pulled back, barely even registering the complaint. “Really really? For sure?”

“Really!” Iruka promised. 

“That’s so great!” Naruto shouted, throwing his arms in the air and waving them around. “Thanks, Iruka-sensei!”

“You earned it!” Iruka replied scruffing his hair. “Next time, try learning the techniques  _ without _ stealing forbidden scrolls, though, eh?”

“You got it! No more forbidden scrolls for me!” Naruto grinned. “Though, I did pretty good at that  _ one _ I learned, didn’t I?”

“You graduated, didn’t you?” Iruka shot back, giving him a coy grin before succumbing to Naruto’s puppy-eyes. “Yes, Naruto. You did amazing.” He then hardened his glare, adding, “But don’t  _ ever _ scare me like that again.”

“I won’t,” Naruto promised seriously. “Before we go to ramen, though, is it okay if we go get some blood for you? You still look pretty bad.”

“You look pretty peaky yourself,” Iruka shot back. “Quite the pair we are.” 

Naruto laughed boisterously. “We are,” he agreed, before leaning in and wrapping his arms around Iruka once more. “Thanks,” he said softly, “for believing in me.”

“Of course,” Iruka said, gently patting him on the head. “I always will.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahhhh I can't believe how long it took to write this!  
> Honestly this entire fic literally stemmed from me thinking "huh iruka would be a super boring vampire" and these three lines of dialogue:   
> "You don't think I'm a monster, do you?"  
> "Of course not, Naruto"  
> "Then how could you think that I'd see you as a monster?" 
> 
> Everything else I built from that point, so all of the interactions and conversations were written with this scene in mind. And then by the time I got there, the dialogue ended up a bit different. But I think I still captured the essence of that interaction in this story, and I'm so happy with how it turned out.   
> Thank you so much for reading!


End file.
